Malcolm Pein on FIDE's future

On the future of FIDE

By Malcolm Pein

I was invited to attend the FIDE Presidential Board meeting in Minsk which was held on the first weekend of October. Minsk is the likely lead bidder for the 2022 Olympiad and from what I saw they will do an excellent job. The facilities and hotels look first class.

The main point of business was the impending financial disaster for the FIDE. Not bankruptcy — in fact, the reserves look reasonably healthy — but the imminent closure of the FIDE bank account. Indeed, the accounts may be closed by the time the magazine arrives. UBS, FIDE’s bankers in Switzerland, have set a deadline of the end of the month for the organisation to cut ties with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov who, due to his sanctioning by the US Treasury on 25th November 2015, is what is known as a ‘PEP’ or Politically Exposed Person.

Banks are not allowed to have dealings with sanctioned individuals; if they do, they run the risk of being shut of all US dollar transaction processing or suffer other sanctions. In short, any serious financial institution will seek to avoid any association with a sanctioned person. FIDE’s Treasurer and Executive Director have tried to take their business to many other banks, but all rejected the organisation.

Sanctions, what sanctions? | Photo: Maria Emelianova, Baku Chess Olympiad

As the deadline looms, Ilyumzhinov has been touring the world declaring he will run for re-election, whereas if he withdrew the bank would have no reason to close the FIDE accounts. After a debate at Minsk there was only one dissenting vote on this:

Minsk, April 8th 2018

Dear Kirsan Nikolayevich,

The Presidential Board has resolved: In the light of:

i. The imminent withdrawal of FIDE’s banking facilities by UBS,
ii. The inability of FIDE to obtain replacement banking facilities while you remain nominal President and subject to US Treasury Department sanctions,
iii. The consequent severe difficulties facing FIDE in funding its obligations and its commitments to the chess family,
iv. The adverse publicity that reflects badly on FIDE’s reputation and undermines the confidence of all those who are or would be involved in chess,

That in the interests of the organisation: You should resign with immediate effect.

The Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos (pictured centre), who is currently Acting President, has announced his candidacy for the top job.

Kirsan has manoeuvred very effectively to prevent several possible candidates from standing against him. The Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos, who is Acting President as Ilyumzhinov ceded executive authority last year, announced that as he had been unsuccessful in finding a candidate, he would run himself. I had considered a run for President*, but instead I am exploring the feasibility of joining the ticket as a prospective member of the Presidential Board or as a candidate for Deputy President. It seems to me that whatever has gone before, and many of the incumbents in FIDE bear a great responsibility for supporting Ilyumzhinov over the years, the priority now must be to get rid of him and only then can the organisation be reformed.

The above article was reproduced from Chess Magazine May/2018, with kind permission.

* Wow, didn't we predict this in our report of 1.4.2017?
No, wait, that was actually an April 1st prank:

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CHESS Magazine was established in 1935 by B.H. Wood who ran it for over fifty years. It is published each month by the London Chess Centre and is edited by IM Richard Palliser and Matt Read. The Executive Editor is Malcolm Pein, who organises the London Chess Classic.

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UK’s most popular CHESS Magazine — established 1935! All the regular features of the UK’s best-selling CHESS magazine plus more! In this issue:

• 60 Seconds with…Robert Ris – The Dutch IM likes to escape to Cuba and has two new works out
• Dropping in on the Candidates – Daniel Fernandez went to Georgia via Berlin and annotates two games
• Fabulous Fabi – Fabiano Caruana proved a cut above in the Candidates in Berlin
• A Road to the World Cup – Gawain Jones and Luke McShane ventured to Batumi to qualify
• Tough Battles – David Howell and Matthew Sadler had to fight hard in the 4NCL
• The Greatest Chess Game Ever Played? – Or so wonders Correspondence Senior IM Mike Read
• The Anatoly Lein Chamber of Horrors – John Henderson remembers the late American GM Anatoly Lein
• Lein Brilliance – Malcolm Pein presents two highly instructive Lein wins
• When Capa came to Margate – The world’s best were once drawn to Kent, as Robert Page explains
• The Chess Talents of Emily and Michael Green – Or, the downside of not resigning before you start, by James Essinger

Plus all the regular features such as: How Good is Your Chess?, Saunders on Chess, Find the Winning Moves, Never Mind the Grandmasters, Studies, Home & Overseas News, Calendar and Book Reviews.

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